Manufacturing active carbon



' April 27 1926.

1,582,718 F. WINKLER MANUFACTURING ACTIVE CARBON Filed Sept. 29. 1923 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRITZ WINKLER, OF LUDWIGSHAFEN-ON-THE RHINE, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO BADISCHE ANILIN- & SODA-FABRIK, OI LUDWIGSHAFEN-ON-THE-BHINE, GER- MANY, A. CORPORATION OF GERMANY.

MANUFACTUBING ACTIVE CARBON.

Application filed September 29, 1928. I Serial No. 665,627.

T0 all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, FRI'rz VVINKLER, citizen of the German Empire, residing at Ludwigshafen-on-the-Rhine, Germany, have invented new and useful Improvements in Manufacturing Active Carbon, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process enabling active carbon to be manufactured in an ordinary shaft furnace, thus avoiding the use of retorts heated from the outside, or of complicated revolving furnaces.

According to m invention a highly active carbon is obtaine by applying direct heat. in a shaft furnace, to coal or other carbonaceous material serving for the production of the active carbon, which may be coal lignite, peat, earthy brown coal or wood or other material, whether or not prepared with alkalies or suitable salts and the like. This'material in the form of a powder or in fine pieces is placed in the shaft furnace and hot combustion gases are introduced from below with suflicient pressure to make an agitation or a whirling motion of the coal or carbonaceous material within the said furnace. The material is thus thoroughly mixed and the whole mass is uniformly heated. Further the intimate contact with the hot fire gases causes the heating to take place. very quickly; and a particularly eflicient utilization, of the heat can be obtained by using the ases issuing from the furnace for drying an preheating the material to be subjected to the activating treatment. The fire gasesmay also have an admixture of steam either continuously or periodically. The activated carbon can be readily withdrawn from the furnace by blowing it out from an opening near the bottom of the same by means of the fire gases.

In order to further illustrate the manner of carrying my invention into effect, I will describe it with. reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, but the invention is in no way restricted to this example. Figure 1 represents a. vertical section of a furnace embodying this invention.

A re resents a combustion chamber in which re gases are produced by burning fuel with air forced into the said chamber; preferably blue gas and air are used which are blown into t e said chamber by means make the combustion complete.

the coke for about 10 minutes.

placed on the layer of the fireclay in a layer of about 40 centimetres in thickness. The fire gases are blown through this layer with apressure of about 150 millimetres ofv water giving the peat coke on their passage a whirling movement. The coke is thus heated very rapidly and after a few minutes is uniforml red-hot. When the temperature has reac ed about 800 degrees centigrade,

steam is blown into the said combustion chamber A to mix there with the fire gases and the mixture is then allowed to act on The flue gases pass through the pipe J into the chamber E where fresh fuel is stored on a suitable support L, for example a tipping grate, and after having preheated said charge of fuel they leave through waste pipe F. The material in furnace B after suflicient treatment is blown out through a discharge 0 into a chamber D, which chamber may be filled with an inert gas. This may be done by closing a waste pipe F and opening the discharge Cwhich is connected by a pipe G with a storage chamber D,from which the air has been removed and replaced by nitrogen or carbon dioxide or other inert gas. When the furnace B is operated, the pipe 0 is closed by the stopper shown. By the closing of the waste pipe F the gases are compelled to escape through the said discharge C carrying along the active carbon that is ready into the chamber D where it is cooled. After opening the waste pipe F and closing thedischarge opening C a fresh charge of peat coke is filled in from the chamber E and the furnace is ready for a further operation. In the chamber E a supply of peat charcoal or other like material to be treated is ke t and treated with the flue gas being drie and preheated thereby.

The trap K is only opened when a fresh su ply of fuel is charged into the furnace B. t will be clear that no special means are necessary to prevent particles being blown right through C as in the chamber D the speed of the gases is reduced and the particles are allowed to settle.

The active carbon thus obtained is exceedingly active and may be used for example for purifying gases from sulfuretted hydrogen by catalytic oxidation with air with very good result.

Instead of peat charcoal other carbonaceous or coal material such as for example anthracite; lignite, lignite charcoal, or wood impregnated with potash or zinc chlorid or other salts, may be used and treated in the same manner yielding excellent results.

I claim:

1. The process of manufacturing active carbon which consists intreating carbonaceous material in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases which are blown through the said material with suflicient pressure to establish a strong agitation of the materiah 2. The process of manufacturing active carbon which consists in treating carbonaceous material impregnated with a salt promoting activation of coal in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases which are blown through the said material with sufiicient pressure to establish a strong agitation of the material.

3. The process of manufacturing .active carbon which consists in treating lignite material in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases which are blown through the said material with sufiieient pressure to-establish a strong agitation of the material.

4. The process of manufacturing active carbon which consists in treating lignite coke in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases which are blown through the said material with suflicient pressure to establish a strong agitation of the material.

5. The process of manufacturing active carbon which consists in treating lignite coke in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases and steam which are-blown through the said material with sufficient pressure to establish a strong agitation of the material.

6. The process of manufacturing active carbon which consists in treating lignite coke in a shaft furnace with hot combustion gases first alone then with an admixture of steam, which are blown through the said material with suflicient pressure to establish a strong agitation of the material.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FRITZ WINKLER. 

